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Post by clemiethedog on Dec 31, 2009 16:00:10 GMT
I imagine we've all received the same advice about 'puppy proofing' and taking some extra care to keep our pets from forbidden substances.
Back on December 12th I absent mindedly left the cover off the kitchen trash can and my dog Blondie scooped out an empty peanut butter jar while I was away. She not only licked up the remaining contents, but also did some chewing. Having noticed many scraps of plastic, I assumed that she swallowed no large chunks, as she seemed her old rambunctious self.
The next day she vomited, but again seemed fine and we took a 3-mile walk. At the conclusion of the walk, she readily accepted her treat as usual and everything was a-ok. That night, however, she didn’t eat her dinner, and that signaled that something was wrong; moreover, she became a mite lethargic. Assuming it was some virus, I went to the vet and they prescribed some stomach medication and told me to monitor her behavior and any movement. That day, she once again refused food and I took her back in.
They did some x-rays and found something wrong in her stomach, though nothing definite. I drove her over to the surgeon’s where they found several sharp clear plastic particles in her stomach and intestines. Obviously they were from the jar. She came out of the surgery all right and a recovery plan was put into place.
I picked her up the next day and, as expected, she was a little groggy but responsive. On the down side she was vomiting up liquids, while not out of the ordinary, something that should be monitored. So I took her to my regular vet and they kept her overnight. The next day it was revealed that she had a rough night with plenty of vomiting, but her vital signs were positive and there was no cause for alarm. She spent yet another night there and again she had a bad time. She was not only vomiting but also what little stools she passed were bloody. Additional x-rays were taken and all that was found was a presence of gas in her stomach and intestines. She was in terrible pain through this time and it showed.
I took her again to the specialist where they’d conduct an exploratory surgery, as the cause for the gases was undetermined. They just couldn’t know without probing, thinking that perhaps her intestines or spleen got twisted. By this time I am beginning to fear the worst and was worried sick. I started going over why I left the top of the lid, etc. It was an awful feeling.
The surgery went OK, though, and they discovered that she had an allergic reaction to the sutures and that her body rejected them, causing her entire digestive system to close down. Amazingly they pumped nearly 2 liters of fluid from her stomach. She came out of this operation much better than before and actually tried to jump from the operating table when she saw me a mere two hours after surgery.
I took her to the vet's for a night of observation and post-op IV treatment. Unlike the last ride, she was comfortable and there was no presence of vomiting. After a night at the vet's, again the prognosis was good and I finally took her home, along with a set of medications and a special diet. She responded very well to the food, which was imperative for the recovery, and gradually she started to get her strength back. By this time it was almost a full week since she kept down anything, so of course she was still weak.
For the next two weeks recovery went splendidly. The vet permitted me to increase her diet after a few days, with the same small portions but with increasing frequency. This has restored her to her previous energy level, although of course any running, jumping, or active play was prohibited. Her exercise was limited to walking around the yard.
Eventually I started mixing her regular food with the prescription diet (an easy to digest brand) and her sutures were removed yesterday afternoon. I can report that she is her old self as her incision healed perfectly.
It was in all a horrible experience, not to mention a very costly one. Even with adult animals, one can never be too careful.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2009 17:37:52 GMT
I'm glad she is okay now! What a terrible ordeal.
Is Blondie a Golden retriever, as per your avatar? They seem to have the most voracious appetites and will gobble up everything! When I was training my border collie (we got him aged about two, a stray) I would carry a bagful of treats to reward him for coming back, and although my own dog was usually nowhere to be seen, I had a trail of labradors and golden retrievers behind me, who seemed to appear from nowhere!
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 2, 2010 12:08:16 GMT
i'm glad he is okay. you are a really good mom though. i'm sorry that he had to go though all that.
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 2, 2010 12:10:20 GMT
I'm glad she is okay now! What a terrible ordeal. Is Blondie a Golden retriever, as per your avatar? They seem to have the most voracious appetites and will gobble up everything! When I was training my border collie (we got him aged about two, a stray) I would carry a bagful of treats to reward him for coming back, and although my own dog was usually nowhere to be seen, I had a trail of labradors and golden retrievers behind me, who seemed to appear from nowhere! golden retrievers are hyper all of their lives. they'll chew whatever is handy just for something to do
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Post by clemiethedog on Jan 13, 2010 14:04:42 GMT
Oh yes, she is an effervescent girl, no doubt, and like most goldens requires exercise. She’s never been an indiscriminate chewer, though; this was more of a food motivated act of trash surfing. She's got an appetite, and in fact one of the conditions I agreed to was to watche her weight. She was abandoned by her previous owners, but unlike most strays, she was actually overweight.
My previous golden was a bit more laid back, but would on occasion do some nibbling on discarded newspaper.
And as a follow up. She is doing great, as if this whole ordeal never happened.
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 14, 2010 14:04:11 GMT
Oh yes, she is an effervescent girl, no doubt, and like most goldens requires exercise. She’s never been an indiscriminate chewer, though; this was more of a food motivated act of trash surfing. She's got an appetite, and in fact one of the conditions I agreed to was to watche her weight. She was abandoned by her previous owners, but unlike most strays, she was actually overweight. My previous golden was a bit more laid back, but would on occasion do some nibbling on discarded newspaper. And as a follow up. She is doing great, as if this whole ordeal never happened. that's great. that's the most important thing of all. my golden retriever wasn't really that much of a chewer, although she did chew until she was a year and a half. most chewing by puppies is due to teething, and then they just get used to doing it. it's my golden lab that has the weight problem. he's lost a good bit of weight since we moved here, and they are outside. they were always house dogs, and they ate whatever i did, including their ice cream at night. now, they have regular food only for lunch, and no ice cream
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Post by clemiethedog on Jan 19, 2010 17:02:58 GMT
Yeah, my first golden, Clementine, I raised from puppyhood and she did chew from the teething. One thing I discovered that was helpful. I'd take a small towel, wet it, and freeze it. This was an excellent toy that would numb her gums.
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 19, 2010 19:33:13 GMT
Yeah, my first golden, Clementine, I raised from puppyhood and she did chew from the teething. One thing I discovered that was helpful. I'd take a small towel, wet it, and freeze it. This was an excellent toy that would numb her gums. that makes sense. i never thought about that. it would be hard enough for them to chew on, and the freezing would numb it. the biggest chewer that i had was dingo, a shephard. someone had dumped him when he was about six months and i took him in. he chewed absolutely everything, and unfortunately, was big enough to reach the sink and stove. he would just take things off the stove or out of the sink and chew them. i had a couple of pans and skillets with no handles, as well as spoons and forks. i never did find a couple of wooden spoons. i still loved him though
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